User:Theleftorium/Planet Simpson

Background

Planet Simpson was written by Canadian author Chris Turner, who is a big fan of The Simpsons. "I can count on The Simpsons to provide me with a solid thirty minutes of truth, of righteous anger, of hypocrisies deflated and injustices revealed, of belly laughter and joy. It is food for my soul. Seriously. I think many Simpsons fans would agree. And that, as far as I'm concerned, makes it a kind of religion," he explains in the book.

Content

The book examines the show's satirical humor and its impact on pop culture. It also looks at numerous episodes of the show.

Chapters

• Foreword by Douglas Coupland
• Introduction: The Birth of the Simpsonian Institution
• Chapter 1: The Life & Times of The Simpsons
  • A brief history of the show, its creation, its writers and a study of its various styles of humour. Also details the shows descendants and its "ancestors".
• Chapter 2: Homer's Odyssey
  • Focuses on Homer Simpson, extended mention of Frank Grimes.
• Chapter 3: Bart Simpson, Punk icon
  • Focuses on Bart Simpson, extended mention of Sideshow Bob, Krusty, and Principal Skinner.
• Chapter 4: Citizen Burns
  • Focuses on Mr. Burns, extended mention of Jack Larson, Reverend Lovejoy, Lindsey Naegle, Mayor Quimby, Waylon Smithers, Squeaky Voiced Teen, Chief Wiggum, and Wiseguy.
• Chapter 5: Lisa Lionheart
  • Focuses on Lisa Simpson.
• Chapter 6: Marge Knows Best
  • Focuses on Marge Simpson, extended mention of Ned Flanders and Grampa Simpson.
• Chapter 7: The Simpsons in Cyberspace
  • Focuses on the Internet and its influences in the show and the shows influence on the Internet, extended mention of Comic Book Guy.
• Chapter 8: The Ugly Springfieldianite
  • Focuses on The Simpsons in the United States and abroad, extended mention of Apu and Groundskeeper Willie.
• Chapter 9: The Simpsons Go Hollywood
  • Focuses on the shows take on Hollywood, celebrities and the shows many guest stars, extended mention of Kent Brockman, Krusty, Troy McClure, and Rainier Wolfcastle.
• Chapter 10: The Simpsons Through the Looking Glass
  • Focuses on the shows take on pop culture.
• Chapter 11: Planet Simpson
  • The conclusion of the series.

Reception

Curtis Gloade of The Record described the book as "almost 500 pages of this sort of meticulous, clear, and I believe, accurate rhetoric. It kept me nodding in agreement throughout. And laughing, too." He also wrote that he hopes people will not skip by the book at the bookstore because it is about The Simpsons and assume that it is "little more than a laugh-along-with-me book with lots of pictures and funny quotes." Gloade commented that this is "not the case. I laughed out loud regularly at the many Simpsons quotes, but that's only a small part of the total package." He concluded that Planet Simpson is an "enjoyable reading experience, one that will likely be matchless still for a long time because I highly doubt we'll see such a melding of a stellar pop culture icon (The Simpsons) and eloquent cultural critic (Turner) again for a long time."